Music by the Decade

This is my personal synopsis of music by the era:

50's-- Music wasn't invented until the 60's, contrary to popular belief amongst the senile elderly who have delusions that anything before the Beetles was anything more than noise with a few exceptions (I ack Motown as a valid form of music, and Elvis is at least to be respected, and granted a few other rare artists like Mozart, Beethoven, etc did their thing).

60's-- Beetles, Stones, The Who, the Doors, and a slew of other pioneers did their thing. You may not like it, but they invented it. Radios and recording still sound like clock radios do today.

70's-- Early 70's-- I think the bulk of the best classic rock came from this era, including the last years of the great 60's artists... except the rolling stones who are still playing, and are now the the Rolling Geriatrics. Late 70's-- Disco... well, not much good to say about disco. We all like a few songs, but over all the era was really bad. Only a few greats emerged here. Sound quality from recordings and gear in this decade advances to being about as good as it is going to get. Dark Side of the Moon has an unbelievable quality for 1973. The cassette tape enters the picture as the primary medium. Everyone burns their albums.

80's-- Remember the 80's? Neither to I. Really there were several good things going on here, but over all, this has to be the greatest collection of garbage of all time (personal opinion, but a very very popular one). Somehow this seems to be making a resurgence, which to me was about as bad of an idea as bringing back bell-bottoms, or making at 30th anniversary model of the "great" fiery Ford Pinto.

90's-- I think you have to say the 90's was another great decade for music. Grunge came and went, and it is now "classic rock" and still played often on those stations. Country music flourished, and even though I despise it, those who don't tell me that it rose from Box Car Willie to outselling much of the pop world. Can you say Garth Brooks? I won't... Boy bands rise; gag me with a chain saw instead please. Rap music unfortunately rises to stardom as well. R&B flourishes rising out of the ashes of Disco. Techno music is now regarded as a real genre. Thrash metal becomes popular, and rapidly rots away into trash metal. CD's evolve to the primary medium in the early 90's. Everyone throws their tapes away.

00's-- And here was are now. I think there is so much different stuff out there to listen to today, that it is hard to break it down. Also, I am quite out of the popular loop. However what is worth talking about is how the medium has change in this decade, not the music itself. MP3 players, internet downloads, internet radio, satellite radio, Computers are now powerful enough to be your primary medium, and the proliferation control that the big corporate record industry sharks had on what gets played on the radio and released on "record" looses its grip. This results in a huge wave of new artists. My main source of music now is internet radio. www.pandora.com is an amazing way to listen to and discover new music. Basically you can customize your "station" by telling it an artist(s) or song(s) that you want your station to center around. Then the station will play those, and other things like it. You can control what is played, but not when it is played (RIAA requirements). If you don't like something, you "thumbs down" it and it won't get played again. If you like, you "thumbs up" and it will be played again. As you keep doing this, over time it will keep evolving to your tastes. I've been working on a station for about 8 months now, and I love it. I am always hearing new stuff I've never heard or heard of, some good, some bad, but over all it is what I want to hear, and it is always new. Awesome stuff. So, lets put away the crap we have been listening to for years, and embrace this new world at our fingers. What good are CD's anymore?

10's-- For the sake of pure speculation, I can't see music evolving much more. Sure, other forms will come, but they are all too much of a variation on a familiar theme. What hasn't been done? I challenge you to point out something "very" original today. Like good ideas, it has all been done before. The medium however will continue to evolve. In this decade we will move to solid state "hard drives" that are so tiny, you will barely know you have it. You will be able to fit the entire collection of music of all time in your wrist watch. Maybe we will have implants that allow you to listen to music without using our ears by exciting the part of the brain that hears. You will be able to listen (or watch for that matter) anything you want, anywhere you want. It has become more interesting to watch technology evolve than music now. However, the technology will also be the end of us... maybe. That is another post.